Telephone survey among likely 2012 voters in Overland Park, KS. Conducted Tuesday, August 9, and Wednesday, August 10, by the State and Local Educational Foundation of Kansas. Margin of error +/- 5.4%. Party breakdown: 51% Republican, 29% Unaffiliated, 20% and Democratic. 55% Female, and 45% Male. 50% over the age of 50, and 50% under the age of 50.

Our results indicate that 48% of Overland Park’s voters are conservative (among likely November Overland Park voters). This includes 16% who are “very conservative.” Thirty-six percent (36%) are moderate, and 16% are either “somewhat liberal” or “very liberal.”

Given that Overland Park’s voters supported John McCain over Barack Obama by a 53-46% margin, when the nation voted for Obama by a 53-46% margin, our results are comparable to Gallup’s national numbers. According to Gallup, 41% of United States adults are conservative.

Other comparisons:

- Our results show 66% of Republicans to be either “very” or “somewhat conservative.” Gallup’s figure was 71%.

- Gallup found 24% of Republicans to be moderate. Our number was 29%.

- Among Independents, Gallup found 35% to be conservative, and 44% to be moderate. We found 34% of Unaffiliated voters to be conservative, and 45% to be moderate.

Age and poltical views:

Among likely 2012 voters in Overland Park, 48% are over the age of 50, and 52% are under the age of 50. We find that over-50 likely Overland Park voters are only slightly more conservative than under-50 Overland Park voters. However, it is within the margin of error in our sub-sample (there was a sample size of 170 each of over-50 and under-50 voters, with a margin of error of 7.7% for each sub-sample).

Among over-50 voters in Overland Park, 49% are conservative; among than under-50 voters, 46% are conservative. There are slightly fewer moderate voters among over-50 (35%) than with under-50 voters (37%). Among over-50 voters, 15% self-identified as liberal; 17% of under-50 likely Overland Park voters are liberal.

“Forty-three percent (43%) of voters say they are conservative when it comes to fiscal issues such as taxes, government spending and business regulation. Thirty-seven percent (37%) characterize themselves as moderates in this area, while 14% are fiscal liberals.

When it comes to social issues like abortion, public prayer and church-state topics: 36% say they are conservative, 29% moderate and another 32% liberal.”

“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 28% of Likely Voters say they are both fiscal and social conservatives. Just 12% say they are liberal in both areas, while 60% are some other combination.”

…

“Among voters who are conservative on fiscal issues, 64% are also conservative when it comes to social issues. Twenty-four percent (24%) of fiscal conservatives are moderates on social issues and 11% are liberal. Among fiscal moderates, 42% of moderate on social issues as well and 39% are social liberals.

As for fiscal liberals, 88% are also liberal on social issues.

More men than women tend to be conservative on both social and fiscal issues. Voters over 40 are more conservative both fiscally and socially than those who are younger.

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Republicans are fiscal conservatives, while a plurality of both Democrats (46%) and voters not affiliated with either major political party (44%) see themselves as moderates on money issues. As for social issues, two-out-of-three (66%) GOP voters are conservative, while a majority (53%) of Democrats are liberals. Unaffiliated voters are more closely divided.”

- Background on Kansas-wide elections and Overland Park elections:

Registration:

State of Kansas and City of Overland Park:

Based on voter registration, Overland Park is technically a more heavily Republican area and less Democratic area, compared to the state of Kansas. However, the city’s voters often end up being less supportive of Republican candidates, compared to state-wide voters. Kansas-wide, about 45% of voters are registered as Republicans, 27% are Democratic, and and 28% are Unaffiliated. In Overland Park, 51% are registered as Republicans, 23% as Democrats, and 26% are either Unaffiliated or another party. The likely implication: In Overland Park, a sizeable minority of registered Republican voters probably rarely vote for the conservative and/or Republican candidate.

“In July, 34.8% of adults consider themselves to be Democrats, virtually unchanged from 34.7% in June. The number of Republicans fell from 35.6% in May to 34.4% in June to 33.1% in July. That’s the lowest total for the GOP since July 2010. For Democrats, the current results are in the middle of a narrow range they’ve occupied for the first six months of 2011. Voters not affiliated with either party grew from 31.0% in June to 32.1% in July. Over the past year, the gap between the two parties has been two points or less with just two exceptions.”